Larry Nassar's attorneys want Bill Schuette held in contempt

Since September, at least 95 women and girls have said former MSU doctor Larry Nassar sexually assaulted them as early as 1992. At least seven women now say they raised concerns about Nassar starting in the late 1990.
Matt Mencarini/Lansing State Journal

LANSING - Larry Nassar's attorneys want a judge to hold Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette in contempt and to prevent six witnesses, including two U.S. Olympic medalists, from testifying.

In a motion filed Friday in Ingham County Circuit Court, Nassar’s attorneys Matt Newburg and Shannon Smith wrote that Schuette violated the gag order Judge Rosemarie Aquilina entered earlier this year by agreeing not to enforce it. They added that Schuette waited to name the six women as witnesses until after some of them made additional public comments.

Those comments "saturated the media further which would have been a violation of this Court's order," Nassar's attorneys wrote.

Andrea Bitely, a spokeswoman for the AG's office, declined to comment, citing the gag order.

Schuette’s office, which is prosecuting Nassar on 22 sexual assault charges in Ingham and Eaton counties, filed motions last week to admit the testimony of six women, including two U.S. Olympic medalists, members of U.S. National Teams and local gymnasts. He also wants to admit evidence of Nassar’s federal child pornography convictions as other acts evidence during the Ingham County trial currently scheduled to begin in December with jury selection.

Nassar isn’t facing criminal charges in connection with any of the six women whose testimony prosecutors want admitted.

The Attorney General’s Office filed its motions on the same day Nassar’s attorneys filed nine motions, including one to exclude evidence related to Nassar’s federal child pornography convictions. The AG’s office filed its motion on the child pornography evidence about 20 minutes after Nassar’s attorneys filed their set of motions.

Schuette’s move to admit testimony from the six women prompted Nassar’s attorneys to ask a judge to hold Schuette in contempt, alleging prosecutorial misconduct, according to court records.

Aquilina’s gag order, entered after a motion filed by Nassar’s attorneys, limits the public comments from women who say Nassar abused them can make publicly about the case or their experiences. Aquilina’s order prompted a federal lawsuit from several women and their attorneys who said it is unconstitutional.

In April, Schuette said he would not enforce the gag order because he felt it violates their First Amendment rights, according to court records. His agreement meant he was dismissed from the federal lawsuit. That challenge later ended after Aquilina amended the original gag order.

Nassar's attorneys called Schuette's actions "reprehensible" and said he acted "unethically and with complete disregard for fairness to all."

The only remedy available, they wrote, is to prevent those six women from testifying during the trial.

"The actions by the Attorney General's Office clearly amount to disobedience of the court process, by their willful disregard of a lawful order executed by this judge," they wrote in their motion. "... It is further contrary to the Courts order and cuts to the 'trustworthiness and honesty' of the Attorney General when their office permits witnesses to run around and violate an Order."

The women, identified in the the prosecution’s motion as Victims 1-6, include former US Olympic medalists, former members of the US National Team and former local gymnasts. The women say Nassar abused them during medical appointments. They said they occurred at international gymnastics competitions, the Karolyi ranch in Texas, Nassar’s office at Michigan State University, Twistars gymnastics club in Dimondale and Nassar’s home in Holt.

The women were between the ages of 10 and 18 when they said Nassar abused them, and told police the abuses occurred between 1995 and 2013, according to court records.

Many of the women told police Nassar abused them during medical appointments over the course of several years, according to court records. One indicated the abuse happened 60 to 80 times and another said it happened more than 100 times.

The reported abuse included digital vaginal or anal penetration without gloves or consent, which is similar to nearly all of the more than 140 women and girls who have made allegations against Nassar to police or in federal lawsuits.

Motions discuss gifts from Nassar

The motion filed Oct. 20 details gifts Nassar gave to some of the women. Two of the women told police Nassar gave them candy, another said he gave her an Olympic jacket with his name written on the tag. One woman told police Nassar gave her a rosary and that he said he sought out holy water blessed by a priest that he could give her before a big competition.

Nassar communicated with one of the women through Facebook, according to the motion, and once wrote to her in a message, "Wow, you’re so damn cute. I can’t stop thinking about how beautiful you looked last night at Nationals, I love watching you shine."

In a separate motion filed Oct. 20, the Attorney General’s Office asked Aquilina to allow it to introduce evidence that Nassar "sought, downloaded, possessed, and viewed thousands of images of child pornography" and that he pleaded guilty to child pornography charges in federal court.

Most of the child pornography Nassar had, according to the motion, depicted girls between the ages of 10 and 14, with some as young as 6. "The images and videos include young girls performing various sexual acts including vaginal and anal penetration by a finger," according to the motion.

In most criminal cases, a defendant’s previous actions can’t be brought up if their only purpose is to provide evidence of the accused’s character or to argue that a crime would have fit with that character. To be admissible, they must do more, and judges have to consider whether admitting that sort of testimony will prejudice a jury.

However, Michigan law makes it easier for prosecutors to introduce these other acts evidence when the defendant is charged with a crime involving a minor. In those cases, evidence that the defendant committed another crime involving a minor can be admitted "for its bearing on any matter to which it is relevant."

MSU fired Nassar a week after the first article. He had already left USA Gymnastics in fall 2015 with little notice.

Over the past 13 months, more than 140 women and girls have filed lawsuits and said Nassar sexually abused them at his MSU office, at his home, at Twistars gymnastics club or at gymnastics competitions around the country or world.

More than 120 women and girls have told police that Nassar sexually abused them, according to court records.

Nassar faces 22 first-degree criminal sexual conduct charges split between Ingham and Eaton counties. Fifteen of those charges are in Ingham County, where jury selection in the trial is set to begin in December, with testimony scheduled for early January. His attorneys want to push the start date back.

He faces up to life in prison if convicted on the state charges.

In July, Nassar pleaded guilty to three federal child pornography charges. He’ll be sentenced in December and the guidelines for a prison term of 22 to 27 years, but the judge can sentence him to up to 60 years in prison.

Here’s a timeline of Nassar’s decades-long career and the allegations against him. This will continue to be updated.

Here's a map of key people and connections in the Nassar cases. This will continue to be updated.